In the above focus we see Paul and Silas once again harassed and threatened by Jews. These Jews were not from Berea, for they were open to the gospel message, but they were from the troubled city of Thessalonica. These particular Jews from Thessalonica had rejected the Good News and were now passionate about stopping Paul and Silas from teaching in Berea that Jesus is the Messiah. They were foes to the idea that Jesus had been sent from God, that He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, the Messiah. This fervent opposition to Jesus was so prevalent in the Jewish communities that they were willing to persecute and murder his messengers. Jesus prophesied about this situation when talking to the religious leaders of his day: “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:33-35) Paul was warned by Ananias that he would face this storm of opposition in his life after committing to follow Jesus. After Paul’s conversion on the road of Damascus, he lived from that time on with a target on his back. Many Jews would line up as his enemy, desiring to kill him. In and out of these Greek communities in his second missionary journey, he was always in danger of being murdered. In Israel, Jesus was always under the threat of being murdered. Religious leaders followed him everywhere with murder in their hearts. They tried to trick Jesus into saying something detrimental to the Roman rule. They knew only the Romans could administer capital punishment, so they brought up a question about whether the Jewish people should pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus avoided this trap by asking whose inscription was on a Roman coin, the legal tender of that age, used in the commerce of selling and buying in Israel. Of course, Caesar’s image and inscriptions were on the coin, so He said for the Jewish people to pay in taxes what belongs to Caesar. The religious leaders were always monitoring Jesus’ activity, always in the middle of the crowds, always willing to confront Jesus with difficult questions. They were hoping Jesus would say something that would disappoint his large following. However, Jesus did not only address their questions, but He also addressed their wicked and murderous thoughts about him, exposing before the public the rot in their souls. We can assume that in the Greek communities, Paul and Silas were not challenged by the few religious leaders in these cities, for there were probably few of them residing in these communities. We can assume that Paul and Silas’ opposition came from ordinary people. John the Baptist called these Jews who came from all over the region to be baptized, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? (Luke 3:7) HIs opinion of the Jewish community was not high. Often large crowds gathered around John to be baptized, and large crowds gathered around Jesus to hear his ministry and to be healed. Yet both men knew the chosen of God were in darkness with eyes covered and ears stopped to the truth, the way, and the life.
Jesus faced this conflagration of opposition. He went to Jerusalem when his disciples said for him not to go, for they feared for Jesus’ life and for their own lives. But Jesus was willing to go into the bee's nest of hostility. Eventually He was arrested, tried and crucified. He gave his life for his beloved Jews who claimed Abraham as their father, but He knew their religious leaders' father was the devil. These vipers turned the crowd from following Jesus to shouting “Crucify him, crucify him! The people, except a few of Jesus’ most intimate followers, left Golgotha that day, believing they had done God’s will. The nemesis of the Jewish leaders had been put to death with great cruelty, satisfying the will of the people. Now in these Jewish communities the will of many Jews and Greeks was not to accept the Good News but to oppose it. Probably some Jews rejoiced when their Jewish brethren were mistreated in Philippi by the Greek magistrates, The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. (Acts 16:22-24) Paul and Silas were pushed on to Thessalonica. There too the Jews had trouble accepting the news of Jesus being the Messiah and probably thought good riddance when the missionaries escaped to Berea to preach the gospel. Paul and Silas, even though discouraged, even though knowing they had a target on their backs, and that any day could be their last, they pressed on, fulfilling Jesus’ words to his disciples. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16) Both of them had experienced what Jesus said about being born-again. They had a new life, now walking as lights in a dark world. They had once lived in abject darkness, feeling their way through life, but now they could see. The mystery of eternal life had been given to them, and they knew life forever in God’s dominion came only through the door, faith in Jesus Christ and his divinity and his work on the cross. They were not going back into that former life; they were not going to retreat; consequently, they pushed forward in their journey, from one Greek city to the next, proclaiming the Good News that Jesus saves. In Berea they found a Jewish community ready to hear this Good News. They were open to investigating what these disciples were ministering by going to the Tanakh, the Hebrew bible. They were earnest in knowing the truth about the Messiah. However, as Jesus predicted, some Jews would pursue from town to town his followers. But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. God’s beloved Jews, those who possessed his precious promises that he gave their father Abraham, were now in the leadership role to quash the message that the Messiah has come to the world to redeem all people from their sin.
I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. (Revelations 3:8) Paul and Silas knew that God had opened a door to salvation that no man could shut. Their purpose was to reveal this door of God’s mercy and grace through Jesus Christ and this work on the cross. Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham. Jesus would bless all nations; many would come to him from many lands. All would be given a new Canaan, an eternal dwelling place. Jesus fulfilled the throne of David, always doing the will of God the Father. David always attempted to do the will of God; that throne Jesus would sit on. All Christians would be in the likeness of Jesus, seeking the way of life, God himself. The Jews, God’s chosen from all people, represent God’s eternal love for all people. Even his chosen, those he blessed with supernatural happenings in their existence, could not hold the line of obeying the Creator at all times. They failed so miserably that God drove them out of Canaan. They incessantly violated God’s command not to serve other gods, but in their hearts and minds, they served images and ideas coming not from God but from their own wills. As Ezekiel in chapter 8 reveals, "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.” Jesus tells the religious leaders, that their minds are deep in rebellion to God’s will; their lips say the right thing but their minds are drawing from their father the devil. Why is there this rebellion from God’s beloved people? Maybe to reveal to the world that even the best of people, the chosen, are bound by the condition of sin. They are the quintessential example of how much God loves his creation: men and women. The rest of creation reveals God’s glory, but men and women reveal his image, and He will not turn away from his image. His mysterious plan of salvation that He revealed to Paul would be spread throughout the world. Yes, the Jews chased Paul and Silas from one town to the next; yes, if they could have, they would have closed the door to salvation, the Good News to the world. But they are no worse than all people. After Noah’s time, God knew the nature of mankind: Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. (Genesis 8:21) God would redeem his own image through the work of Jesus Christ, his Son, on the cross. He would bring his beloved back to him, the Jew first and then the Gentiles. He would call these newly born, out of a world of darkness, his children. His Son would introduce them to his Father. Jesus referred to his people with terms of endearment: brothers and sisters. After his resurrection, Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my BROTHERS and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17) The kingdom has come: now we who are IN CHRIST are his brothers and sisters, part of the family of God forever. The message of the Good News is the message of eternal life with God. God’s chosen, the Jews, were actively fighting this plan, but they were not alone: the majority the Greeks allied themselves with the Jews. The devil was the foe of Paul and Silas. The disciples were fighting the unseen principalities of the underworld. However, in the midst of so much opposition, Paul and Silas were more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37) We too around this breakfast table are more than conquerors. Our fight is never over, the contest between the devil and God is on our battle field. Is our banner raised high, knowing we are fighting a winning battle, or are we limping back to the rear of the fight with sorrow on our brow. Paul and Silas said, “Never.” We know you around this breakfast table shout the same thing: NEVER! Amen!
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